Russian skaters dominate finals
Posted: Saturday March 06, 1999 05:19 PM
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Malinina landed five clean triple jumps, including an outstanding triple lutz, to win the free skate. AP |
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Russian-born Tatiana Malinina
upset two-time European figure skating champion Maria Butyrskaya
and won the women's competition Saturday at the ISU Grand Prix
finals.
Malinina, who skates for Uzbekistan, took advantage of
Butyrskaya, who fell twice in a shaky free skate program.
In the men's competition, world champion Alexei Yagudin
outskated fellow Russians Alexei Urmaov and Evgeny Plushenko and
American Michael Weiss in a free skate that turned on a battle of
the quads that nobody managed to land cleanly.
Russians failed to win only the pairs, which went to China's Xue
Shen and Hongbo Zhao, who captured the title with a side-by-side
triple toe loop and a triple twist throw. They defeated Russian's
Olmpic silver medalists Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze
after Berezhnaya fell on a triple toe loop.
"She's in a turbulent zone," Sikharulidze said of his partner.
In the ice dancing, the Russian pair of Anjelika Krylov and Oleg
Ovsiannikov skated at blazing speed to defeat the French pair of
Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat.
Much of the attention at the competition was focused on
Butyrskaya, considered the most likely skater to challenge Kwan at
the World Championships.
But she skated miserably, falling first on a triple flip and
then spectacularly on a triple salchow, skidding across the ice on
her stomach toward the judge's stand.
Her performance was still strong enough to finish second to
Malinina, who landed five clean triple jumps, including an
outstanding triple lutz, to win the free skate. Malinina also
dominated Friday's short program.
But Malinina, whose strength is technical, not artistic,
conceded that she was not likely to take on Kwan for the world
title.
"I can compete on the technical side," she said. "I won't be
able to beat her on artistic representation."
Russia's Irina Slutskaya finished third.
Russians also swept the top three positions in the men's
competition, with Yagudin followed by Urmanov and the 16-year-old
Plushenko. Weiss came in fourth.
Although none of the top finishers landed a completely clean
quadruple jump, Yagudin came close, landing on one foot but
slightly losing his balance. Plushenko attempted two quads --
something done only once before in competition -- but didn't land
either of them cleanly.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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